Is there an Ipod Classic Cemetery?
April 26, 2011 1:12 PM Subscribe
My old Ipod Classic has been slow to start lately, and at times couldn't be stopped without a reset. Today, however, it started making a sad sound reminiscent of a spinning disk scraping against cardboard, interrupted by occasional quiet mournful beeps and a cute icon of a sad Ipod, along with the apple website support address. It does not seem to be able to restart, no matter what.
So -- do I take it somewhere (?where?) for repairs/refurbishment or give it a decent burial -- and if the latter, what does one do with an Ipod loaded with personal stuff which can't be restarted or wiped?
This place fixed my classic with a different problem.
Great service (3 years ago). YMMV.
posted by Danf at 1:43 PM on April 26, 2011
Great service (3 years ago). YMMV.
posted by Danf at 1:43 PM on April 26, 2011
Best answer: Scratch my last comment. . .it was actually this place. Again, I had great service and it was reasonable.
posted by Danf at 1:47 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Danf at 1:47 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh dear. This happened to me with a 3rd generation one. Those sounds are the sounds of death. It has been a good life, and I suggest you let it die with dignity. You could give it to Apple to recycle it, or better yet sell it as-is on eBay to a parts hunter.
My solution was to get another one off ebay. Then that one burned down, fell over, and sunk into the swamp. So I got another one, just to show them. But this time 4th generation (just so it would still work with my Bose dock). And it has endured. So this is just to say that you can get a similar one used for fairly cheap if you need to in order for it to still work with certain accessories.
posted by Askr at 2:32 PM on April 26, 2011
My solution was to get another one off ebay. Then that one burned down, fell over, and sunk into the swamp. So I got another one, just to show them. But this time 4th generation (just so it would still work with my Bose dock). And it has endured. So this is just to say that you can get a similar one used for fairly cheap if you need to in order for it to still work with certain accessories.
posted by Askr at 2:32 PM on April 26, 2011
It sounds very much like a hard disk failure. The cheapest way to replace the hard disk, and to ensure nobody gets to read the old one, is to DIY.
I suggest going to ifixit.com and looking at the instructions for hard disk replacement. Do you think you could do it yourself? I have replaced both hard disk and battery on an iPod 3G and it was really very easy, once I had the damn thing open. The process looks similar for the Classic, but I haven't had to open mine yet and so can't speak from experience. There's no soldering or anything scary like that; everything just clips together.
If you feel up for it, or have a friend who does, order the parts, swap out the disk, and smash the old one to bits with a hammer, or drill a hole through it, before it goes in the trash.
posted by nowonmai at 2:57 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I suggest going to ifixit.com and looking at the instructions for hard disk replacement. Do you think you could do it yourself? I have replaced both hard disk and battery on an iPod 3G and it was really very easy, once I had the damn thing open. The process looks similar for the Classic, but I haven't had to open mine yet and so can't speak from experience. There's no soldering or anything scary like that; everything just clips together.
If you feel up for it, or have a friend who does, order the parts, swap out the disk, and smash the old one to bits with a hammer, or drill a hole through it, before it goes in the trash.
posted by nowonmai at 2:57 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks so much, folks. I appreciate all the suggestions. Sadly, I am so terrible at fixing things myself that I dare not attempt the hard disk/battery replacement approaches, and frankly I believe I would screw up drilling a hole in the hard drive. My husband is great at all of the above but I figure he has enough to do without tending to my Ipod. So I'll attempt repairs or just give it to Apple to recycle.
posted by bearwife at 5:10 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by bearwife at 5:10 PM on April 26, 2011
Okay, so this is going to sound weird, but at the point when you have decided to recycle it, try giving it a few hard whacks down onto something like a book. This is the only way I could get my ipod to work. It limped along that way for a year... whenever it broke, I'd hit it against something.
Not a great idea to do to a working ipod, but if you're recycling it anyway, it's definitely worth a try.
And the internet supports my ingenious solution.
posted by geegollygosh at 6:06 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Not a great idea to do to a working ipod, but if you're recycling it anyway, it's definitely worth a try.
And the internet supports my ingenious solution.
posted by geegollygosh at 6:06 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
oh, and actually in the case of mine there was a cable that needed to be reseated inside. If I felt motivated, I opened it up and did so. If not, I threw it on the ground a couple times.
posted by geegollygosh at 6:07 PM on April 26, 2011
posted by geegollygosh at 6:07 PM on April 26, 2011
When my first-gen ipod died, I bought a little shadow box at IKEA and used super-strong mounting tape to stick the ipod in it and hung it on the wall. I used a cool piece of wrapping paper as the background. It looks positively prehistoric compared to the current ipods and makes a pretty cool piece of wall art that always gets comments from visitors. I'm contemplating doing the same with my old blackberries.
posted by buzzkillington at 8:08 AM on April 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by buzzkillington at 8:08 AM on April 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, geegollygosh and buzzkillington. I did dutifully whack my Ipod but it just made the same sad noises. (Gah, depressing.) I like the art suggestion but think recycling lies ahead.
posted by bearwife at 10:58 AM on April 28, 2011
posted by bearwife at 10:58 AM on April 28, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 1:14 PM on April 26, 2011